On Wednesday, Shireen Abu Akleh (51), a senior journalist at Al Jazeera, was shot dead amid gunfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank. She was reporting on a raid in the city of Jenin, which has seen intensified army raids in recent weeks.
The death, however, prompted the Palestinian National Authority (PA) and Al Jazeera Media Network with a fresh set of munitions to attack Israel, which has demonstrated little tolerance for armed attacks carried out by Palestinian terrorists and has been quick in mounting military operations to neutralise the threats.
Al Jazeera claims Israeli army “assassinated” Shireen Abu Akleh
The Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the incident and said in a statement that the killing of the journalist was a violation of the international laws and norms. Calling Abu Akleh’s death a heinous crime, the Qatar-based news organisation said, “We hold the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of the late colleague Shireen”. The statement also called on the international community to hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for their ‘intentional targeting and killing’ of Abu Akleh.
´Wake up Shireen’. Thé moment Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was pronounced dead after being shot by Israel forces while reporting in Jenin, thé occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/YxRI5Ga60p
— Arwa Ibrahim (@arwaib) May 11, 2022
Akleh on May 11 was accompanied by Shatha Hanaysha, a reporter who was travelling in the same vehicle as Abu Akleh. Hanaysha said that the journalists at the scene were being pinned down by the snipers.
“They were deliberately targeting the journalists as we were trying to film the army raid. If they were not really willing to kill some of us, they could have started shooting before our arrival in this narrow area. I see this as a clear assassination of journalists”, she said. However, she did not elaborate on how she arrived at the conclusion that the snipers were from Israeli forces and were ordered to take journalists down.
She also added that Shireen was intentionally killed as she was shot in the face, an area of her body that was not protected. Ali al-Samoudi, the Al Jazeera journalist who was similarly injured while covering an Israeli army operation, claimed that Israeli forces deliberately targeted the journalists. “We were going to film the Israeli army raid, and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming,” he said while implying that violence in volatile regions is often preceded by an advance warning.
The Palestine Journalists Syndicate also propped up its efforts to target the Israeli forces. It alleged that the Israeli forces were fully responsible for the crime and stated that Shireen Abu Akleh’s death was a clear assassination perpetrated by the Israeli Army. It called for the protection of the journalists from what it claimed to be “continued incitement and killing practised by the Israeli occupation and all components of the occupation.”
Israeli Army denies involvement in the killing of Al Jazeera journalist, says Palestinian gunmen killed her
Meanwhile, the Israeli army denied having deliberately targeted the journalist. The army confirmed that it had conducted an operation in the Jenin refugee camp but said that it had not targeted the journalists at the scene. The Israeli Foreign Ministry further stated that the initial investigation of the event revealed that the journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen. “Palestinian terrorists, firing indiscriminately, are likely to have hit Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqla”, the Israel Foreign Ministry tweeted.
This morning, in Jenin, terrorists heard saying: “They’ve hit one, they’ve hit a soldier, he’s laying on the ground”
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 11, 2022
But no IDF soldier was injured in Jenin
Palestinian terrorists, firing indiscriminately, are likely to have hit Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqla pic.twitter.com/nXNbVJrnkC
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also issued a statement on May 11 and said that it is likely that the Palestinian gunfire killed the Al Jazeera reporter. “According to the information we’ve gathered, it appears likely that armed Palestinians – who were indiscriminately firing at the time – were responsible for the unfortunate death of the journalist,” Bennett said in a statement.
The UN Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, also condemned the incident and called for an immediate and thorough investigation. “I strongly condemn the killing of Al Jazeera’s reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot with live fire this morning while covering an Israeli security forces’ operation in Jenin, in occupied West Bank,” Wennesland tweeted.
(2/2) My deepest condolences to her family & wish a speedy recovery to her fellow journalist, injured in the incident. I call for an immediate and thorough investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. Media workers should never be targeted.
— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) May 11, 2022
The Al Jazeera report mentions that Shireen Abu Akleh was a professional and persevering journalist. The last message she sent to her team was at 6:13 am in the morning. “Occupation forces storm Jenin and besiege a house in the Jabriyat neighbourhood. On the way there, I will bring you news as soon as the picture becomes clear”, the message read.
